What will Tigers' Opening Day outfield look like after Parker Meadows injury update?

The Tigers got hit with some very bad news over the weekend when they announced Parker Meadows would be out indefinitely with a nerve issue in his arm. He only managed to play in one spring training game — Detroit's opener against the Phillies — when he went 0-2 at the plate. He currently has no timetable to return, and AJ Hinch called it a "wait-and-see situation."

This came off the heels of bad injury news for Matt Vierling, who has a rotator cuff strain and won't be ready by Opening Day. That's three notable injuries for the Tigers so far with Alex Cobb's hip issue also in the mix (and similarly without a timeline to return).

Meadows was slated to be the Tigers' everyday center fielder, but his injury opens up competition for some of the top rookies who could've been left off of the Opening Day roster — Justyn-Henry Malloy and Wenceel Pérez specifically.

Akil Baddoo, who has been the Tigers' go-to Quad-A outfielder over the last few seasons, won't factor in after a hand fracture also eliminated him from the possibility of making the Opening Day roster.

Tigers' everyday center fielder unclear as Parker Meadows is sidelined with injury

Malloy didn't spend time in center field last year, whereas Pérez made 21 starts there. Vierling probably would've been easy to shift off of third to give Jace Jung a real shot at becoming a mainstay at third, but Vierling is also out.

Riley Greene also took a few turns in center last season, and he does seem like the most plausible option to temporarily take over there despite putting up top marks in the AL as a left fielder. That would give the Tigers the option to keep both Malloy and Pérez at the corners (with Kerry Carpenter sometimes subbing out in right but primarily DH'ing). With Malloy and Pérez, that would probably kick Zach McKinstry to the curb.

So the Tigers do have options, but it's a blow to lose Meadows, who was a standout on both sides of the ball after he was demoted and served his time in the minors before being reinstated to the major league roster last season. He's easily one of the most exciting young players on this Tigers roster and seemed due for a big breakout year. There's still a a chance that he's ready to go by Opening Day, but we'll have to keep our fingers crossed for that.